November in Pictures

Apparently my brain is not working like it should be. I kind of forgot all about the 'Month in Pictures' thing I wanted to start, and I actually forgot all about putting up a blog post on Wednesday.  I blame it one Christmas, and the lingering Christmas candy and gifts that have yet to find a place to be stored and the overall lack of hustle right now at the Hess House.

Sometimes we just want to get barbecue takeout and watch HGTV... and we may have done that last night.

We've had a lot of things going on around the Hess House lately, many of which we'll share in the weeks to come, but for now: November in Pictures. I know November was a long time ago, but humor me.

November...

Yep, the picture of the random frames on the floor is step one of our gallery wall... I would share the finished project, except that I haven't finished it yet. Gotta fill those frames, but soon, soon.  And yep we decorated our Christmas tree in November, but don't worry, the Christmas tree is (now that it's mid January) put up in the attic, but the Christmas lights are still on the roof and the house still isn't quite back to normal...

Happy Returning-to-Normal-after-Christmas-life. :)

Weekend Adventures: The Bull Wedding

So these weekend we hit up our good friend Tommy's wedding reception. He and his lovely bride Wendee got married up in Delaware about two weeks ago. But Delaware's far away from Texas where Tommy's family and a lot of Tommy and Wendee's friend live. So they threw two parties for their one marriage... genius idea.

We had the pleasure to attend, and Kyle was actually the DJ. He's multi-talented like that. 

I figured if my dance partner was going to be tied up playing the latest jams, that I better bring my fancy camera and take some pictures instead of awkwardly standing on the side of the dance floor, right?  And I got to pretend like I was a professional, walking around getting pictures of everyone. Except that there was a real professional there too. And I forgot to get a picture of the bride and groom... actually no pictures of the bride at all. The professional lady was following her around and I didn't want to look like a creeper... 

Note: If you are at a wedding taking pictures, be a sweetheart and don't use a flash. The flash can actually mess up the real photographer's pictures, especially during the ceremony!

It was a great celebration. See the groom worked with us up in Colorado for two summers and down here at camp in Texas the year in between. He has lots of camp friends. Then he brought Wendee up to Colorado last summer and proposed in front of the most beautiful mountains ever... we fell in love with Wendee that week...

So here are the pic, of the celebration, of our friends, of lots of dancing.

Some of the sweet ladies who were interns with Tommy down here in Texas. Aren't they beautiful?

Some more of our summer camp friends of the past and present...

Isn't this one great. Mostly because I love this picture and all the craziness in these people. Even though I know Madison (right) will hate it...

This would be some of our new favorite lovebirds. I just love how Emma's face lights up when she's dancing with Lloyd.

Isn't this one funny? Tommy, the groom, is the one in the middle of all the craziness... 

And then this one of some great Colorado ladies with the groom.

Then Madison and I just had to take a picture together... and the professional photographer photo bombed our picture. Which cracked me up... because I bet she gets photo bombed a whole, whole lot.

So we had a re-do.

Then I saw an opportunity to snap a classy pic of the groom. This one's for Wendee. Who doesn't want a classy, swag picture of their groom to look at all day?

It was a great night. Congratulations to Tommy and Wendee. Oh they are so fun, can't wait to see what adventures life brings them. 

And kudos to my sweetheart of a husband, who really is the very best wedding/barn dance DJ I ever met, and who surprised me with a fancy hotel room that night so we didn't have to make the late drive home that night. He's the best...

Any wedding parties in your weekend plans? Any pretend-to-be-a-photographer picture taking?

Ute Trail Ski Trip 2013

As I massage my sore calves from the skiing, I'll share with you the pictures of beautiful snow and Colorado mountains...We were up in Colorado for the annual Ute Trail ski trip hanging with a few of our favorite camp people. A little skiing, a little snow, and a whole lot of board games :)

Day one we were getting everyone in their cabins and relaxing around the lodge. Fire building, piano playing, board games...

This is what it looks like when you don't win at Farkle... right Lanie?

Day two we were busy making breakfast, getting out lunch packing supplies, and cooking up a big ole pot of Dad's recipe chili. I apparently didn't take any pictures...

Day three we went skiing! We headed to Monark Mountain and had some great snow to work with. Nice powder, no ice, and a lot of locals. It had been a few years since I had skied, but I warmed up pretty fast... and I didn't even stop any of the lifts this year...

Look at me and Kyle at the top of the highest mountain! It's right on the contenintal divide and it was beautiful.

This was a better picture of the view. And sorry about the huge hood in my face, it was COLD out and I was making sure my head didn't freeze...

And then after the day of skiing. We don't look too bad, we said we 'stopped skiing before skiing stopped us.'

And then day four was adventures out in the snow around camp and Lake City. It was also a time I decided to get out my camera and snap a few pictures of camp covered in snow. And test out my new 50mm lens outdoors; all of these pictures were taken with the 50mm with various settings of course.

This one's our Colorado home, our little cabin for the summers: Powderhorn. I made Kyle carry me over the threshold when we first moved there a week after we were married. It was our first home together...

Camp's old barn. It's got a museum inside. I'll be glad to give you a tour, really, just ask...

This one's the home of some of our favorite friends on camp. I didn't know if they had a good picture of their home yet. They live here all year, snow and everything!

Then I headed over to catch the boys playing football in the snow (great time to test out action shots)...

My favorite snow football player... yep, he had an interception, and he made someone bleed... :)

Sean the new intern...

Max...

Mitch...

The star of the game... the football of course. Isn't that a fun shot?

Will...

The other new photographer in town, the cutest snow football photographer... Mrs. McGuire.

 After the boys (halfway) recovered from the football game we all headed into town to go tubing. I jumped on a tube and popped it (which made me wish I had more New Year's Resolutions). Then rode down a few times. Best thing were these two pictures... which unfortunatley I can't say I took. But this is a picture of a few of our Ute Trail staff from last summer.

And then someone said 'make a pyramid!'

Anyone recognize the lake?? This is Lake San Cristobal that we canoe and kayak on in the summer, completely FROZEN!

We walked on it. Cracks and all... can you see the crack in the ice between Jill's feet?

It was a wonderful trip, so good to be back 'home' in Colorado with so many of our Colorado and Texas friends. A little cooking, a little dish, a lot of family :) This was most of our Ute staff there right before we said goodbye... may have teared up multiple times during the trip recounting memories of the summer staff...

Oh Colorado...